Soccer star Lionel Messi’s signing with Paris St Germain (PSG) in France reportedly incorporates a portion of the French soccer club’s cryptocurrency fan tokens, in the most recent high-profile endorsement of digital assets. The Argentine, 34, left Spanish side Barcelona and marked a two-year contract with Qatari-claimed PSG, with a possibility for a third year, on Tuesday and, in exchange for his acceptance, he will receive a massive salary, as well as a portion of the team’s fan tokens.
Affirming an exclusive Reuters report, PSG said today that the tokens were part of Messi’s “welcome package,” which media reports have assessed at $29-35 million. The club didn’t uncover the extent of tokens in the bundle; however, it said the sum was “significant.” It added that there had been a high volume of exchanging its fan tokens after reports that Messi was set to join the club.
Fan tokens are a sort of cryptocurrency that permit holders to decide on generally minor changes identified with their clubs. Among those to offer tokens this year are English Premier League champions Manchester City and Italy’s AC Milan. Messi’s previous club, Barcelona, introduced its own last year.
The tokens are progressively seen by clubs as a source of new income, and Socios.com, which provides the tokens to PSG and other top clubs, says tokens have created almost $200 million for its partner clubs in 2021, with PSG previously seeing income from the Messi bargain. Like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, fan tokens can be traded. A few high-profile business and celebrity figures have sponsored cryptocurrency resources, with Tesla manager Elon Musk, Twitter originator Jack Dorsey and rapper Jay-Z among those to have shown support for Bitcoin.
